May Update

May has been a very busy month! Jon and I both had our birthdays. I had graduation. We had our birth mother's day picnic. I served dinner one night at the Ronald McDonald House with my boss. Work has been busy and Jon and I have started house hunting. I haven't been baking a whole ton but I've been able to get a few things in. I made a cake at the end of April for a lovely lady who I used to work at Old Chicago with. I also made some super cute cupcakes for birthmother's day. I also decided to jump into macaroons over the long weekend, which I'm super happy to say was a success! I made both American and French macaroons and I can't wait to try them again.

First things first.
Dee's Birthday Cake:

Dee's cake was a 4 layer cake that had two layers of chocolate cake and two layers of white cake dyed a burgundy wine color. I piped grapevines all over the cake and I think it turned out really cute. She said she liked it and that there were left overs for days, which doesn't surprise me since this cake has two full cake recipes in it! 

NEXT!

I absolutely love my job at the Ronald McDonald House. My boss and I served dinner with another board member one night in May. It was a great way to really sit down with the families who are at the House and chat with them. One of my recent favorites, Jaxson, was finally going home the next day after an 8 week feeding clinic at Monroe Meyer. I thought that a funfetti cake would be appropriate for the little ones at the House. I had some fun decorating the cake as well. 

I'm all for sprinkles and I probably could have put more in!

We were all happy to see Jaxson be able to go home but we definitely miss him at the House.

Birthmother's Day was next and I have always wanted to make these cupcakes and so I figured it was worth a shot. Next time I make these cupcakes, I'm going to allow myself more time. I didn't start baking the cupcakes until 9 am and I had to be at Nebraska Children's Home at 11:30, needless to say we were late because I was frantically piping petals on the cupcakes! I made them as cookies and cream cupcakes. Each cupcake had chunks of oreos in them and them had an oreo on the top for the center of the flower. 

Birthmother's Day was great. I got to spend some time with the Harters and my Calvin. He and Jon had fun at Gramp's and Grammy's place. 

Run, Calvin, Run!

Last, but not least, MACAROONS! 

I've always wanted to try and make French macaroons because I figured they would be a good challenge and they are a light yummy treat. I found a really easy recipe for American coconut macaroons and threw them together on Friday night. It makes a really small batch but they were really good and Jon enjoyed them.

1 1/3 Cup coconut flakes

1/3 C sugar

2 T all purpose flour

1/8 t Salt

2 egg whites

1/2 t vanilla

In a small bowl, combine the coconut, sugar, flour and salt. Stir in egg whites and vanilla; mix well.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 325 for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

I ended up making ones that were a little bigger than a teaspoon so my recipe only make 7 macaroons but it was worth it. Crispy on the outside and soft and coconutty inside. 

I also made French Macaroons with blackberries.

I used Martha Stewart's recipe for macaroons. I will do another post that goes through the process soon but I didn't take pictures as I went this time. But I think macaroons deserve their own post.

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend! I hope this summer brings good things and lots of baking!